Hi thank you so much for reading this! I'm wondering if it's safe to give my cat 2 units of Lantus that would be drastically reducing his normal 5 units twice daily .

My cat has been on 5 units Lantus for at least 6 months maybe longer. He's a big cat, 16 lbs and vet is happy with his weight at that.
I told her (vet) my cat had been peeing once a day or once every other day and it's very yellow concentrated urine. He's not straining to pee. But I just noticed by chance I had to miss his 2 doses last night and this morning (which I almost never do) but I noticed he didn't drink any of the several bowls of fresh water. And he doesn't have eye discharge he always gets if he misses an insulin dose.
Vet said I should definitely give him an ear prick after tonight's dosage but I won't be home then and I don't want to risk him going into hypoglycemic shock. I'll be out from am to late Pm tomorrow. I have doctor appts all day and a dentist after work appt.

Is hard to say what's going on with Taco ( I love the name even if it makes me hungry ) with out information on how he's doing, it would help if you could add his spreadsheet to your signature.

What were his numbers when you had to miss his shoot?

It is very unlikely that he would go into remission with 5 units of lantus twice a day if he's been getting low numbers low enough to earn a reduction then you would go to 4.75 units or maybe 4.5 and take it from there but as I said this are only some thoughts since really giving an opinion with out data is not easy.

If you are afraid you won't monitor him and his numbers are low enough for you to fear hypoglycemic shock I would say always go to the safe side and skip the shoot if it comes to that

Is hard to say what's going on with Taco ( I love the name even if it makes me hungry ) with out information on how he's doing, it would help if you could add his spreadsheet to your signature.

What were his numbers when you had to miss his shoot?

It is very unlikely that he would go into remission with 5 units of lantus twice a day if he's been getting low numbers low enough to earn a reduction then you would go to 4.75 units or maybe 4.5 and take it from there but as I said this are only some thoughts since really giving an opinion with out data is not easy.

If you are afraid you won't monitor him and his numbers are low enough for you to fear hypoglycemic shock I would say always go to the safe side and skip the shoot if it comes to that

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Thank you so so much Veronica! It just happened that I had to miss his shots pm & am back to back. I almost never miss his shots. So I didn't do glucose curve tests before or after. (I had to have a medical procedure) . I can't be with him today so after back and forth emailing with the vet I was scared to give him 5 units last night and didn't know what I should do so i skipped last night's shot. As per the vet (email) this morning I gave him 2 units. I'm really upset bc it's almost impossible to find someone who is free during the day to help me hold Taco in order for me to do his ear prick. He hates it every time. He gets absolutely traumatized and becomes extremely agitated.
I can't get a clear answer if it's ok to give him 5 units tonight in order to test it. I'm really confused and scared. I hate guessing but I guess? I should keep him on 2 units and do the glucose curve after that? Now I'm really scared I gave him 2 units and maybe he should of had 4 units this am? Thank you so so much

Im new to board and just bought alphatrac monitor.
I watched a video a member gave me and it helped my anxiety over pricking my Rusty & traumatizing him.
BEST advice? Rub some antibiotic ointment wit pain reliever on test site! Maybe change site from one ear to another? Give a treat (I have dehydrated 100% turkey bits. I broke on up, let him get a sniff of it and then pricked him.
Now mind you this was my very first timeand poor Rusty has oe than one prick hole on his ear!
Cant give you advice on dose as I am sure I will ve asking a similar question soon.
Good luck

l really really feel for you and your level of anxiety being alone without help...I wish I could help you...I am just here for moral support and I hope not you and mitty are going to be ok...I personally would call the vet to that told you to lower the dose so much and ask if there were a safer option...I sure hope some knowledgeable folks chime in here real quick...big hugs...

Thank you so so much Allison!! I appreciate the moral support bc I'm often in tears trying to manage Taco's diabetes (& other medications.) And my heart goes out to you as well for this!
Taco is older he's 10 he is on Prozac for anxiety, and Adequan shots for arthritis.
The vet initially did say go to 4 units after he had been on 5 for so long but then I was very afraid 5 was dangerous for him. So she said if I wanted to go to 2 units go ahead. All she said was to do the ear prick . My friend had to cancel and I'm stressed to try to do it alone. I don't know if it's possible he freaks out as if he thinks he's being attacked. It's a horrible experience overall.
Thank you again for your support and kind words .

Thank you so so much Allison!! I appreciate the moral support bc I'm often in tears trying to manage Taco's diabetes (& other medications.) And my heart goes out to you as well for this!
Taco is older he's 10 he is on Prozac for anxiety, and Adequan shots for arthritis.
The vet initially did say go to 4 units after he had been on 5 for so long but then I was very afraid 5 was dangerous for him. So she said if I wanted to go to 2 units go ahead. All she said was to do the ear prick . My friend had to cancel and I'm stressed to try to do it alone. I don't know if it's possible he freaks out as if he thinks he's being attacked. It's a horrible experience overall.
Thank you again for your support and kind words .

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I test Babu on my own and he's a handful, at the beginning what I did is I wrapped him in a towel taco (burrito ) style leaving just his head out, placed him on my lap and started pressing his ears with my hand and putting the warm cloth in his hears then would praise him a lot told him what a nice boy he was and (this is the most important part ) gave him a reward , use something he really likes in Babu's case it was comercial smoke flavor turkey breast, I did this a few times until he kind of got used (not completely but he didn't complained so much) to me handling his hears and then I repeated everything but really poked .

Also I suggest you choose a place where you can be confortable and always use the same place so that he understands that that is the test place .

Finally you have to take a deep breath before starting everything because if you are nervous he will feel it and he is going to take advantage of that ( I swore they feed on our fear) , he has to feel you are in control and won't accept any nonsense because that is something that has to be done

Just wondering how you and Rusty are doing? You have alot to dealwith it sounds like...I too can never dream of leaving my CKD alone for any length of time...he is sick but vet still doesnt know why...he lives on fluids...shots of cerenia... shots of mirtazepine...one special food after another and I am constantly monitering EVERYTHING he does...peeing ...pooping ..eating...he is in pain from something...needs his mama to recognize the signs so I cant ever leave him for long...no summer holidays this year ...I would do anything to just find out what is wrong with him...thinking it could be IBD....or the dreaded cancer...hes had sooo many tests and I am scared bc my savings are running out....hard to know what to sometimes hey? I hope you two are doing ok ...hope maybe you called vet about that rather large dosage increase....hugs...Allison